May 24: Judi Bari ¡Presente!

Today is the 23rd anniversary of the bombing of Earth First!/ Wobbly organizer Judi Bari.

Judi was blown up by a pipe bomb placed under the seat of her car while she was on tour organizing for Redwood Summer–a summer-long campaign of direct action to save the last of the ancient redwoods in California.  She was critically injured and permanently disabled as a result.

-Judi on Beach_2-large

Judi Bari (center) walks on the beach in Northern California, supported by two friends. The bombing left her permanently disabled. Photo: Langelle

Judi was a close friend of Global Justice Ecology Project co-founders Orin Langelle and Anne Petermann.  She passed away in 1997 from breast cancer.  She was a visionary organizer who broke ground in bringing together mill workers and Earth First!ers to oppose the unsustainable logging of ancient redwood forests.

The FBI never found (or looked for) the person responsible for the bombing.  They arrested Judi and her passenger and co-organizer Darryl Cherney for transporting explosives after the bombing.  They were sued by Darryl and Judi’s children for violation of Judi and Darryl’s civil rights.  The FBI was found guilty and forced to pay $4 million in damages.

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0 Responses to May 24: Judi Bari ¡Presente!

  1. Thanks Steve. Hard to keep the decades straight sometimes!

  2. Judi passed away in 1997, NOT 2006. And it wasn’t just millworkers, but loggers as well. 🙂

  3. PJ

    Syndicalism, Ecology and Feminism: Judi Bari’s Vision — an article (and available as PDF pamphlet layout) by Jeff Shantz is available here: http://jeffshantz.ca/node/36 as well there are several other related writings about her life and ideas, the important organizing fusion she undertook towards green syndicalism… http://jeffshantz.ca/judibari

  4. CKR...

    Wish someone could define for me significant differences btwn China and the United States…they’re about the same….this is how China rolls when dealing with pesky insubordinates, those who step forward from the collective and insist on progressing the values of conservation. The U.S. just happens to have the big fluffy lie wrapped round it so that unless the suppression happens to you, in front of your face, it can be conveniently ignored.

  5. David Ross

    Shared. Typical of the FBI – they arrest you for what someone else (often them) did to you. In America, the FBI is the governments “political police force” and, while they do solve regular crimes, their primary role is controlling dissent. An important footnote to all this is that their crime lab has been caught manufacturing evidence to support Justice Department prosecutions. Sadly, most Citizens are unaware of their role in committing crimes including murder. We will remember Judi.